India Inc under 'stress': Fear of layoff, pay cut and work pressure pushing more employees into depression

MUMBAI: For close to a year since October 2011, Ashutosh Bhagat (not his real name), 41, vice-president for sales at a leading financial services firm, spent sleepless nights; as a result, he was finding it tough to report to work on time every morning. Otherwise a highly productive and energetic employee, Bhagat's team and co-workers were suddenly finding it difficult to deal with his oscillating bouts of rage and depression.

Medical tests revealed Bhagat had developed blood pressure coupled with mild depression, forcing his immediate superior to sign him up for counselling. Subsequent sessions with the therapist revealed that Bhagat was worried about meeting targets that had recently been revised on the higher side to help his company beat back the economic slowdown.

This pressure at the workplace had snowballed into marital discord as the sales head was spending less time at home to ensure he didn't under-perform; he couldn't afford that - not at a time his bosses were keeping an eagle eye on weeding out deadwood in the system.

Bhagat is one of thousand corporate executives who have become victims of stress triggered by the economic slowdown that has been raging for a year now.

Concerns about the looming threat of layoffs, salaries that are either cut or delayed, and pressures to meet higher targets are conspiring to create a tempest of uncertainty that executives are finding difficult to cope with.

That anxiety is manifesting itself in dysfunctional behaviour at the workplace, and at home too as work-life balance goes for toss.

It's a vicious cycle - the resultant depression and dependence and abuse of addictive substances to cope with the stress only succeed in increasing inefficiencies in the workplace, and worsening the situation at home.

According to estimates by PPC Worldwide, a global provider of employee assistance programmes (EAP), more than 62% of health concerns in India Inc in the year to October 2012 were due to work stress.

Job insecurity has risen from 10% pre-slowdown to 18% and suicidal tendencies rose from less than 1% to almost 5%.

India Inc Responds

"There has been a marked jump in work-related stress in the past one year, which is clearly related to the overall economic uncertainty and slowdown," says Amber Alam, head of operations (India), PPC Worldwide.

But the good news, adds Alam, is that "the stigma around seeking professional help to deal with mental stress and resultant issues has been broken in India. Corporates are comfortable today seeking guidance to help employees deal with work-related stress". To be sure, sections of India Inc acknowledge the increasing levels of anxiety, and are responding accordingly with activities that range from yoga and breathing exercises, to fun activities like movies and sports, to lifestyle coaching sessions, to counselling.

"We have created mechanisms like confidential emotional counselling, which is offered as a gift to employees, and we find them proactively responding to avail of the facility," says Ashutosh Telang, executive vice-president and head-HR, Marico.

"Stress at the workplace requires proactive and creative treatment by making work fun and people passionate about the work they do," says Prince M Augustin, executive vice-president, group human capital & leadership development, Mahindra & Mahindra. "To this end we are working at building core capabilities within our leaders of weaving passion and energy at work."